The Fields of Chazy

Grandpa died when I was young

A farmer and a farmer’s son

His heart was in the North Country

Among the fields of Chazy

Albina was young Joseph’s bride

For 8 years she was at his side

Thru summer, winter, spring and fall

Working the fields of Chazy

Their bond was strong enough to bear

The hard times and the trials they shared

But 1915 winter came

And his love could not save her

Albina’s first child was her last

Just 29 years when she passed

Joe buried them in frozen ground

Ten miles north of Chazy

For ten long years Joe walked alone

The sorrow settled in his bones

He sowed 500 apple trees

Some said that he’d gone crazy

In May of 1925

Joe took Elizabeth for his bride

My dad arrived in ‘29

Born in the town of Chazy

Grandpa played accordion

With gnarled hands when I was young

The songs of old Acadia

200 miles from Chazy

The snow white winter orchids bloomed

The day we heard of Grandpa’s news

His heart had stopped, his spirit flew

From Albany straight up to Lake Champlain

Today I walk a winding road

I touch the trees my Grandpa sowed

My heart’s here in the North Country

Among these fields of Chazy

The twisted ancient apple trees

The sweet fruit of his legacy

Yes, this my Grandpa left to me

These verdant fields of Chazy

Grandpa died when I was young

A farmer and a farmer’s son

His heart was in the North Country

Among the fields of Chazy